From: Peter Graham, Rutgers University Libraries
I continue to see the usefulness of a DC meta-element which would provide
information about the overall handling of the DC record and make life easier
for DC record creators. It would also provide valuable and
cost-saving information for automated handlers.
CON: Introduces a new element when the desire so far has been to
limit and even reduce the number of elements. Potentially introduces
a level of complexity that could discourage potential users (the
answer to this I think is to let defaults be invoked in the absence of
the meta-element).
PRO: Remembering Godel's proof, a system cannot be fully described in
the language of the system itself.
a. Language is a good example (see
thread on Element Names). What is the language of the element names,
and what is the language of the content fields of the elements (and of
the schemes, roles, etc.)? These are two different questions (and are
unrelated to the LANGUAGE element of the DC which refers to the work
being cataloged by the DC record). A meta-element could briefly
indicate each of these, and in its absence a user (automated or human)
could assume English as a default.
Example: a French metaloger specifying
the subject of a document as being "tea" without the word being
interpreted as "the" by a person or webcrawler (or consider "pet", or
in German, "war").
b. Specification of schemes: it seems likely that metaloging will
be done according to rules, often, and not just element by element.
Allowing specification of, say, "scheme=A2", "scheme=RMV," and
"scheme=LCSH" could save labor by avoiding repetition and achieve human
readability by reducing clutter.
c. Defaults: more elaborate specification of defaults could be a
meta-element issue.
d. Foresight: it seems likely that the DC will grow and become more
complex rather than less once use becomes active. Looking ahead to
the need for overall statements might be wise at this time.
The question asks itself: in what language will the meta-element be
phrased, and what defaults will it have (the bird of recursion rears
its ugly head). At this point, with the slightly more rule-bound and
meta-cataloging intent, standard cross-cultural terms or even numbers
might be relevant for use.
--pg
Peter Graham [log in to unmask] Rutgers University Libraries
169 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08903 (908)445-5908; fax(908)445-5888
<URL:http://aultnis.rutgers.edu/pghome.html>
